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ARE YOU CONSIDERING A CAREER IN DIVING?

Diving is recognized as a high-risk activity, and the Commonwealth and all states and territories have introduced specific regulations for some aspects of diving at work to control the risks. These regulations are found in the relevant occupational health and safety (OH&S) legislation.

THE LEGISLATION

The OH&S legislation covers all dives when one or more divers are AT WORK in the diving industry whether employed or self-employed. Under the general duty of care provisions of OH&S legislation, all persons involved have a responsibility to take measures to ensure the health and safety of those taking part in the diving project as well as their own. Most Australian legislation calls up and applies the provisions of the Australian/ New Zealand Standard 2299.1:1999 Occupational diving operations: Standard operational practice.

Divers have a number of responsibilities under the legislation and the standard. These include:

• holding an approved qualification for diving;
• being competent to work safely; and
• holding a valid certificate of medical fitness to dive.

APPROVED QUALIFICATIONS

Under most Australian diving legislation and AS/NZS 2299.1:1999, occupational divers are required to be trained in accordance with the provisions of the standard and to have a certificate from the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme or occupational diver training establishment or the relevant regulatory authority.To see which qualification is appropriate for the diving work you are considering, see ADAS Qualifications.

WHAT IS DIVING AT WORK?

Divers are not employed to dive, as such, but to carry out some worktasks underwater. These tasks may  range from civil engineering to archaeology. Diving is only the means of getting the worker to and from a worksite and carrying out tasks. 

Potential working divers should ideally already possess the technical skills that are relevant to the job. For example, construction workers may require welding, non-destructive testingor rigging qualifications, while divers involved in an archaeology project may require a degree in archaeology.

You need to have both the diving skills and work skills that employers want - the more skills that you possess - or develop - the more sort after you will be, the better paid you will be and the better the work you will be offered.

CAREER OPTIONS

There are different types of working divers, each demanding different skills and competencies. These include:

• Offshore Diving in support of the offshore oil and gas industries. Usually it is contract based and seasonal.
• Inland / Inshore Diving, for example, in support of civil engineering or marine-related projects and fish farming.
• Scientific and Archaeological Diving in support of scientific research and education, and archaeological investigation of sites of historic interest.
• Media Diving in support of film or TV productions which require divers to work as stunt performers, journalists, presenters, photographers, camera operators, sound and lighting technicians, and unit crews.
• Police and Armed Forces. These divers are specialists who are generally chosen from personnel already in the service.

#G1#Diving is physically and mentally demanding. Some potential divers drop out of the training because they find they are not suited to working underwater. Good health is absolutely essential. At the earliest possible stage you should consider completing an initial medical questionnaire to see if there is anything in your medical history that might preclude you from a career in diving. Please see section below“Are you medically fit”

COMMERCIAL DIVING COMPETENCIES

AS/NZS 2299.1:1999 requires that occupational divers be trained and qualified in accordance with the appropriate part of the Australian Standard 2815 Parts 1 – 4‘Training and certification of occupational divers’.The various parts relate to occupational SCUBA Diving (Part 1), Surface Supplied Diving (Part 2 – 30 metres, Part 3 – 50 metres) and Closed Bell Diving (Part 4).See ADAS Qualifications

• SCUBA stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (where the air supply is in cylinders worn by the diver).
• Surface supplied divers receive their air supply via an umbilical (hose) from the surface and work with hydraulic and pneumatic tools .
• To dive offshore (and for deep on-shore air work), divers require training and qualification to ADAS Part 3.
• Closed bell divers use mixed gas in order to dive deeper than 50 metres. They can spend up to 28 days working (and living) in a compression chamber complex transferring to the work site in a diving bell.
• To be eligible for a Closed Bell Diving qualification a diver must have one year’s experience diving offshore using surface supplied diving equipment and techniques

If a person fails to reach the required competence, the ADAS diver training establishment will refuse to recommend that ADAS award the qualification. If this happens the person can appeal within 28 days for a review of the decision using the ADAS appeals procedure.

ARE YOU MEDICALLY FIT?

Occupational diving can be a very demanding career. It requires a high degree of physical and psychological fitness that means you will need to be very fit initially and will need to keep yourself in top condition. Training is also expensive, especially if you are paying for it yourself. Under the ADAS requirements (in line with AS/NZS 2299.1:199) you will need to pass a thorough medical examination by a doctor specifically trained in underwater medicine before commencing diving training.

MEDICAL EXAMINATION

Before beginning training and or assessment you must pass an initial medical examination in compliance with the requirements of AS/NZS 2299.1:1999 carried out by doctor specifically trained in underwater medicine to ensure you are medically fit to dive. The medico also needs to make you aware of any underlying health problems, which could affect your fitness in the future. If you pass the medical you will be issued with a certificate of medical fitness to dive, which is valid for up to 12 months. This must be renewed annually and will include a fitness test.

The cost of the examination may vary depending on any further tests the medico may have to carry out. The medico may state restrictions about the types of diving work you can do, for example, the depth to which you can dive.

The questionnaire below is designed to help assess whether your medical history would exclude you from diving or potentially shorten your planned career. Once you have completed it, you may wish to discuss the questionnaire with your General Practitioner (GP) to determine whether you have any medical conditions that could cause you to fail the diving medico’s examination or prove a problem during your future diving career. Your GP will also need to see the accompanying ‘Notes to General Practitioner’. There may be a charge for this so check with your GP. You will need to ask your GP to sign the questionnaire. You should then take it to your initial medical examination by a diving medico.

Some medical conditions that used to be an automatic failure, such as mild asthma, may now be allowable for some forms of diving. These conditions would need to be assessed by a diving medico, not your GP.

It should be emphasised that seeing your GP, with this questionnaire, is entirely optional. However, the initial discussion with a GP could save the unnecessary expense of a full medical examination by a diving medico, as the GP might advise that you would have difficulty passing the examination.

EFFECTS OF DIVING ON HEALTH

The hazards of a diving career include a number of specific acute and chronic medical conditions, such as decompression illness (‘the bends’) and bone necrosis. Compliance with accepted diving procedures reduces these to a very small risk.

INITIAL MEDICAL QUESTIONNAIRE

NOTES TO GENERAL PRACTITIONER

Occupational diving is generally subject to the Australian/New Zealand Standard 2299.1:199 which require divers to undertake annual medicals according to the medical. Before beginning training, all diving trainees must be examined by a doctor specifically trained in underwater medicine (diving medico – see appendix K AAS/NZS 2299.1:1999). If passed fit, the diving medico will issue a certificate of medical fitness to dive.

Prospective divers may wish to consult a GP to identify from their records whether they have any health problems that would cause them to fail the diving medico’s examination. The GP consultation is optional but could save the diver from incurring unnecessary expense in undertaking a full medical examination.

The diver needs to complete the questionnaire accompanying these notes and discuss it with you. Further medical tests or examinations are not necessary at this stage.

Certain medical conditions, such as those listed below, can exclude individuals from a career in diving. Some health problems such as mild asthma or certain ENT conditions are relative contraindications and will require further assessment by a doctor specifically trained in underwater medicine. Unless excluded at this stage, prospective divers will go on to have a full medical examination by a doctor specifically trained in underwater medicine. Please sign the questionnaire to indicate that you have discussed it with the diver and to confirm the accuracy of the responses. If necessary, you might be asked by the diving medico to provide more details.

General considerations

Pregnancy

A diver who is pregnant or suspects she may be pregnant should not dive to avoid possible harmful effects that exposure to increased pressure may have on a foetus.

Age

AS/NZS 2299.1:1999 requires divers to be at least 18 years of age.There is no upper age limit for divers

Any of the following medical conditions would be a bar to a career in diving:

Cardiovascular system

• ischaemic heart disease
• any dysrhythmia that might cause incapacity in water
• any cardiomyopathy
• atrial or ventricular septal defects
• aortic or mitral valve stenosis
• coarctation
• varicose veins with circulatory impairment (eg varicose eczema)

Respiratory system

• previous spontaneous pneumothorax
• chest injury, particularly penetrating injury resulting in pleural adhesions or pulmonary scarring
• the presence of bullous lung disease
• severe asthma requiring oral steroids or hospital admission
• chronic obstructive airways disease

Gastrointestinal system

• severe inflammatory bowel disease with systemic effects
• gall bladder pathology
• pancreatitis

Psychiatric illness

• claustrophobia
• schizophrenia
• unipolar/bipolar affective disorders
• current drug or alcohol dependency

Central nervous system

• epilepsy (unless the individual has been fit free for 10 years without treatment)
• severe motion sickness
• migraine with visual, motor or sensory disturbance
• history of cerebrovascular accident
• history of demyelination (eg multiple sclerosis) or neurodegenerative disorder (eg Parkinson’s disease)
• any unprovoked loss of consciousness, recurring fainting episodes other than febrile convulsions occurring up to the age of 5 years
• previous intracranial surgery
• head injury where there has been any of the following:
• depressed skull fracture
• intracranial haematoma
• unconsciousness or post traumatic amnesia of greater than 30 minutes
• focal neurological signs

Skin

• severe exfoliative disorders

Haematology

• chronic anaemia
• sickle cell disease (carriers of trait need not be excluded)
• thalassaemias (carriers of traits need not be excluded)

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